Solskjaer leads Molde to Norwegian title again

By Matt Hill

The former Manchester United striker has seen his team successfully defend their league crown with one game to spare after a narrow victory against Honefoss

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has led his Molde side to the Norwegian title for the second season running with a game still to play, after a 1-0 victory over Honefoss moved them four points clear of Stromsgodset with one game remaining.

The 39-year-old joined Molde as head coach back in 2011 and won the league in his first season at the club. Now, with one game to go, his men have retained the title thanks to super-sub Daniel Chukwu’s header, coupled with a 2-1 defeat for Stromsgodset to Sandnes Ulf.

Speaking to Norway’s TV2, the former Manchester United striker said: "The boys have been very focused on getting this done. Now we've shown that it can be won two years in a row - without being called Rosenborg."

Rosenborg, who won 17 Norwegian titles between 1990 and 2010, are currently third in the league with 52 points and could still finish second if they win their final game against Honefoss and Stromsgodset lose to already relegated Stabaek.

"I'm lucky to have very good players, and we always had faith that we'd succeed," added Solskjaer.

"Now we'll just have to keep going. If we lose players, we'll just have to reinforce."

Solskjaer made 366 appearances for Manchester United, scoring 126 times including the famous winning goal in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in 1999 that saw Sir Alex Ferguson’s team win the treble.

After finishing his playing career, Solskjaer worked as a striker coach at Manchester United and was in charge of the club’s reserve team before taking the job at Molde.